CLARUS 2013

Just a few more days until Desert Springs Church's annual theology conference called Clarus. The conference is completely sold out, but the sessions will be available in audio form on the church's website shortly after the conference. I am very excited for this conference and looking forward to sitting under the teaching of our very qualified speakers, Paul Tripp and Timothy Lane.

Clarus

Here is how DSC’s teaching elder, Pastor Ryan Kelly, explains what Clarus is:

Since 2005 Desert Springs Church (DSC) has held an annual conference weekend with a guest speaker and a focused topic. In 2008 we started giving it a name, Clarus—which is Latin for bright, clear, or radiant. We think that word aptly reflects our intentions with this conference: that God and His truth would be made more clear, more radiant to us, and more powerfully penetrating in us. To that end we set aside a full weekend every year for fellowship, singing, prayer, and instruction about God’s words and ways. In 2011, Clarus became a Regional Conference of The Gospel Coalition.

Clarus 2013

Ryan introduces this year’s theme:

God’s plan for our redemption is not merely to reconcile us to Himself, but to point us to those who share this reconciliation, the church. In Christ, Christians become part of a new family.

. . .Roughly 50 times the New Testament tells Christians to do something one to another. We sometimes refer to these as the one-anothers—e.g., love one another, serve one another, pray for one another, stir up one another, encourage one another, sing to one another, etc. Such commands simply cannot be done alone. We need partners. We need a partnership—which is really what “fellowship” is.

. . .To that end, we Christians meet regularly for worship and teaching; we read the Scriptures and pray, alone and in our families; we read good books and recommend them to others; we keep working at these relationships and our ministry to each other.

Dr. Tripp and Dr. Lane are not addressing a subject reserved for vocational ministers or even those involved in formal biblical counseling. They are addressing Christians with God’s Word concerning a most basic aspect of Christian discipleship: speaking the truth in love.

As Christians, we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18), and we are to also grow together (Ephesians 4:15-16). We do not do this perfectly because we are sinful people in need of a Savior. We hurt those that we love the most; we isolate ourselves from others because we don’t want our hearts exposed; we may put on a “good face” when we are around others, but inside we are in utter turmoil; we worship our own kingdoms. Without living in true Christ-centered biblical community, we will wallow in our failures and sins and live as those who have no hope.

But, of course, God calls us to something greater. He calls us to Himself! He calls us through the truth of the gospel, the hope of lasting change and the grace of God. In tune with Matthew 6:33, we seek His kingdom and His righteousness and in so doing, Jesus knits His church together because we are seeking after Him, not our own interests. He exposes our hearts and our sin for the good of His children and for the glory of God. We then let others in because we see that we need Jesus and each other. As Dr. Tripp and Dr. Lane remind us, “change is a community project.”

At DSC, we have been greatly helped by Dr. Tripp and Dr. Lane’s resources.How People Change and Instruments In the Redeemer’s Hands have been used here to train our membership in biblical counseling. This fall, our Community Groups worked through Paul Tripp’s marriage DVD series, What Did You Expect?: Redeeming the Realities of Marriage.

On a personal note, as a lay-biblical counselor at DSC, I am very excited to be part of a church that upholds the primacy of the Word in the pulpit, but also as central to the life of every Christian. And I’m thankful for this annual conference and the blessing that it has been to our church. Having Dr. Lane and Dr. Tripp teach will serve as an invaluable resource and encouragement, not only for the DSC family, but also for those from around the Southwest region who will join us. My hope is that this conference will remind us of our great need of Jesus both individually but also corporately. Christ is indeed the head of his church. By God’s grace, we are praying for the church in the Southwest region to be encouraged in the all-important work of one-anothering the Word.

For more information on this year’s conference, including talk titles and registration, visit clarusabq.com.

The 'Good' That God Works Out

As I read this blog post about Romans 8:28 and how we, as counselors, use this verse to try and help those who are hurting, it struck me that suffering isn't something that we just tag a verse onto and move on. The old saying, 'take two pills(verses) and call me in the morning' isn't to work in this situation. The sufferer is looking for the pain to go away and to try and make sense of what is going on. So, when God tells us that He is working out all things for our good, what does that mean? What is the 'good' that God is working? Well, Dr. Rick Thomas gives us some insight into this verse and what God is after through our suffering and trials. There are a lot of hurting people today in the church and I pray that God will use His Word to help those in need. If we truly believe what Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:3-4, "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.", then we can boldly approach Christ through His Word and know that He has given us the answers to life's difficulties.

Are you willing to search out Scripture for your problems?
Are you willing to trust that God is good and that He knows what you need?
Are you willing to ask someone to help you through your difficulties?


What does “all things work together for good” really mean?

And I Am Helped...

This morning, I was reading in the Psalms and was greatly encouraged by Psalm 28:6,7.  I am so thankful to God for having the Psalms written down for us to be able to read about the heart of hurting people before Him.  God, in His perfect patience and mercy, knows that we are needy people, but He doesn't just leave us 'needy'.  Psalm 28:6,7 says, "Blessed be the Lord! for He has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.  The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him."  In Him, David's heart trusted and in Him, David was helped.  I believe that this is true for us today.  In Him our hearts can trust because He is so worthy of trust.  In Him we are helped, because He is the only One who really can help.

Matthew Henry puts it this way in his commentary on Psalm 28:

II. He encourages himself to hope in God for the perfecting of every thing that concerned him. Having given to God the glory of his grace (v. 6), he is humbly bold to take the comfort of it, v. 7. This is the method of attaining peace: let us begin with praise that is attainable. Let us first bless God and then bless ourselves. Observe, 1. His dependence upon God: "The Lord is my strength, to support me, and carry me on, through all my services and sufferings. He is my shield, to protect me from all the malicious designs of my enemies against me. I have chosen him to be so, I have always found him so, and I expect he will still be so.’’ 2. His experience of the benefits of that dependence: "My heart trusted in him, and in his power and promise; and it has not been in vain to do so, for I am helped, I have been often helped; not only God has given to me, in his due time, the help I trusted to him for, but my very trusting in him has helped me, in the mean time, and kept me from fainting.’’ Ps. 27:13. The very actings of faith are present aids to a dropping spirit, and often help it at a dead lift. 3. His improvement of this experience. (1.) He had the pleasure of it: Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. The joy of a believer is seated in the heart, while, in the laughter of the fool, the heart is sorrowful. It is great joy, joy unspeakable and full of glory. The heart that truly believes shall in due time greatly rejoice; it is joy and peace in believing that we are to expect. (2.) God shall have the praise of it: when my heart greatly rejoices, with my song will I praise him. This must we express our gratitude; it is the least we can do; and others will hereby be invited and encouraged to trust in him too.

I like how Matthew Henry says that 'not only God has given to me, in his due time, the help I trusted to him for, but my very trusting in him has helped me, in the mean time, and kept me from fainting.'  How many of us today feel like 'fainting?'  How many of us have regrets from 2011?  How many of us have set new year's resolutions to do better this year?  With all the things that we are facing this coming year, are we taking those to the Lord, or are we just trying to make it through another year with minimal damage?  David in this Psalm is encouraging himself to look to the Lord when trouble comes.  He is reminding himself that God is his strength and shield and that God is the One who helps. 

And this is true for us all today.  If you are wondering where and when help will come for your weary soul, draw near to the Lord and He will draw near to you.  Remember Psalm 28 as well as Psalm 120:1,2 "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." I am convinced that one of the main reasons we all feel like 'fainting' or weary and that God feels distant is directly related to the amount of time we spend with the Lord in prayer and Bible study.  Just as Jesus taught us in John 15:5, " I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."  When we don't spend consistent time with the Lord in prayer and Bible study, it is like we are cut off from the vine.  Our hearts can wither and feel dry because our life blood has been slowed.  Now, I am not talking about salvation.  He who is a believer in Christ and has asked Him to be his Lord and Savior has been permenantly attached to the Vine, Christ, and will never be cut off.  Also, the true believer cannot be cut off from the Vine due to how they are feeling or their sin (Romans 8:38,39).  Most times, when we are not consistently spending time in God's Word, the truth, we are tempted to allow our feelings to dictate our responses to life and circumstances.  Therefore, a question arises, how well do we 'know' the Lord?  How well do I know Tim Tebow?  I know of him, but I don't know him.  Getting to know someone deeply requires lots of time with that person and lots of giving of ourselves to that person, whether they are a spouse, a friend or family member.  We don't just wake up and really know someone we've just met.  I desire to 'know' God and not just know 'of' Him.  In His grace, He had His Word written down for us to be able to get to know Him better. 

This year, may we resolve to further deepen our fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ by trusting Him to help us be more consistent in our walks with Him.  We just might find that things that felt insurmountable in our lives aren't that big of a deal after all.  They may still hurt and suffering may continue, but our responses to these will be grounded in the truth of who Christ is and who we are in Him instead of how we are feeling.  Feelings are deceiving, but God's Word stands forever true!

Leadership In The Home...

Guys!  I need your help.  I am gathering thoughts to write about how men are to lead in the home.  Please read the following questions and comment so that I can try and get a broad sweep of answers.  I appreciate it!

1.  What would you say are mens roles in the home?  Husbands and dads.

2.  On my drive home from work, I often have great intentions of what I want to do with my family, Bible study, prayer, play with the kids, etc...  But the second I walk through that door of my home, good intentions can become fleeting memories.  What about you?  When you walk through the door of your home, how have you seen God use you and how have your good intentions become realities?  Have they become fleeting memories like mine sometimes do?

3.  Where is the battle for your heart when it comes to leading in the home?  Where do you tend to stall out instead of fulfilling your roles each day?

4.  Where do you need to change, by the grace of God, to live out your leadership?

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions!  I will be posting about this very soon after I receive enough comments.